Alice Waters (chef, author and UC Berkeley alum) spoke at UCLA's Science and Food event, Edible Education, about the ways in which food can be a catalyst for deeper transformations in education and culture.

Waters' commitment to education led to the creation of the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, a one-acre garden and kitchen classroom at Berkeley's Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. The success of the program led the Chez Panisse proprietor to found the Edible Schoolyard Project, a nonprofit organization with the goal of building and sharing an edible education curriculum from kindergarten through high school. Its vision is for gardens and kitchens to become interactive classrooms for academic subjects, and for every student to have a free, nutritious, organic lunch.

“Yes, there is a fast-food culture operating in this world and, yes, it permeates every aspect of our lives; but fortunately there is a counterforce to all of this, an antidote, and I call it – no surprise – ‘slow-food culture,’” Waters said. “Now, slow-food culture is not as flashy as fast-food culture, but it’s richer and deeper and truly fulfilling and life-affirming.”